Job Announcement

This position includes a signing bonus of $2,500 (full-time) for new county hires.


Appointees to this position are eligible for an environmental stipend. This stipend will be paid out at a rate of $138.46 per pay period and will be in effect until further evaluation of the position class warrants other considerations.

The Division of Children, Youth and Families (CYF) of the Department of Family Services (DFS) is seeking a Social Services Supervisor to lead a team of Social Services Specialists in the Child Protective Services (CPS) DFS is committed to strengthening the well-being of its diverse community by protecting and improving the lives of all children, adults, and families through assistance, partnership, advocacy, outreach, and quality services. To learn more about DFS and its Mission, Vision, and Values, please click here.

The Social Service Supervisor is a leadership position and is accountable for critical decisions that are vital to the protection of children. Provides day-to-day management of a unit of caseworkers (social services specialists) responsible for conducting family assessments, investigations, case management, and intervention to ensure child safety and well-being as well as to stabilize and support families. Work hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., however, evening and/or weekend work as well as being part of an on-call rotation for CPS supervision that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field are required.

Duties of the Social Services Supervisor include:

• Directs and monitors staffs case actions related to safety and risk on a daily basis
• Monitors workloads within the unit and program to advise location of deployment of staff
• Conducts and participates in staffing and consultations with staff
• Supervises, motivates and trains staff through use of regularly scheduled meetings
• Ensures timely contacts is made on all cases and staff are continually assessing child safety
• Reviews case records to ensure staffs documentation and contacts are entered accurately and timely
• Reviews and approves submitted safety plans to enhance safety and reduce risk and further maltreatment
• Reviews cases submitted for closure in accordance with Department policies and procedures
• •Accompanies staff to family meetings, home visits, and for court processes and/or appearances to model, train and to assure compliance with policy and best practices
• Provides instruction, guidance, and support to on all imminent risk situations and intervenes as needed to resolve crises with clients
• Trains or ensures staff are trained in policies and procedures and court paperwork
• Evaluates performance and make appropriate recommendations regarding personnel actions
• Interviews, selects, hires, manages, and develops competent staff who can engage, support, and empower families to ensure their safety, permanency, and well-being
• Reviews, authenticates, and approves staffs time and attendance (T&A) and reimbursement
• Communicates with and serve as liaison to social service agencies, local police, local law enforcement agencies, and the courts regarding reports and investigations of child abuse and neglect cases
• Assists in the development and implementation of appropriate program-related policies and procedures
• Provides guidance to staffs about Emergency Removal Order (ERO), Preliminary Protective Order (PPO), CYF Visitation Policy, and other related policies and procedures related to the separation of children
• Prepares for the appeals process for investigations that have been appealed and represents the Department in the appeal process
• Takes the lead in scheduling staffing/consultations with County Attorneys and other relevant parties when imminent risk remains present
• Takes on a leading role in the operation to screen for validity, priority response time, and track assignments of reports received by the CPS hotline
• Confers with program leadership when an unresolved danger indicator in the family or factors
• Performs other duties as assigned to ensure child safety and improve outcomes in families
• Be part of an on-call rotation that includes evening, overnight, weekend, and holiday hours which may require immediate response into the field

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of child protection laws, rules, and regulations
• Knowledge of foster care and adoption laws, rules, and regulations
• Ability to interview, assess needs, counsel, and refer clients to other resource as needed
• Working knowledge of human services programs and protocol
• Working knowledge of CPS intake and ongoing processes, procedures, and protocol
• Ability to provide guidance, supervise and train others; ability to objectively review and appraise the performance and work of others
• Ability to understand, interpret and communicate policies and procedures to staff
• Ability to efficiently plan, schedule and organize
• Ability to apply conflict resolution and problem-solving skills
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with co-workers, clients, other agencies, and the public

This ad could be used to fill multiple positions throughout the county.

All Fairfax County Government employees are expected to adhere to the Standards of Conduct. In maintaining a drug free workplace, employees are prohibited from manufacturing, distributing, possessing, using or being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs while at work or on county premises.

Illustrative Duties

Provides day-to-day guidance and direction to a group of social services specialists

on case related issues, policies and procedures, and agency initiatives;

Ensures acceptable levels of quality and quantity in the delivery of services;

Plans caseloads, assigns cases and reviews case records and reviews and signs off on service plans, case assessments, and other reports which require supervisory review;

Identifies crisis situations and provides intervention as needed to address difficult or dangerous client situations;

Interviews job applicants and makes recommendations for hiring, prepares and conducts formal and informal performance evaluations, and handles performance and discipline issues in a timely manner and in accordance with County personnel policy;

Reviews the work of individual social services specialist and provides feedback and instruction;

Communicates performance expectations; monitors performance and outcomes of staff against the goals and objectives of the program;

Approves and monitors expenditures for client services consistent with the program budget and client outcomes;

Solicits concerns, issues and recommendations from staff regarding programmatic needs and systemic is sues;

Evaluates the effectiveness of policies and procedures and recommends changes;

Holds group and individual conferences with staff to discuss general policies and to interpret related rules, regulations or laws and to assess cases objectively based upon the significant risk factors and to monitor casework progress;

Facilitates open communication between staff and senior management to achieve agency and unit goals;

Plans for and facilitates social services specialists' professional growth and development. Provides staff development including training, mentoring, and encouragement for staff to improve professional skills in order to support access to human services;

Develops and implements ongoing team training plan;

Works with the community to identify families and children needing services and to coordinate these services;

Communicates effectively with social services specialists and senior management regarding the needs of the agency, social services specialist, and clients;

Participates in intra and interagency work groups, supervisors' meetings and special projects;

Provides oversight for required data systems and uses data systems for management of day-to-day work;

Prepares or oversees and presents narrative and statistical reports documenting the

work of the unit and/or in relation to case activity;

Promotes the attainment of agency and individual staff goals related to service access

components (Automatic Call Distribution service levels, case objective outcomes, time studies, silent monitoring, and customer service surveys) through the ongoing monitoring of service requests and subsequent service delivery;

Establishes and maintains ongoing collaborative relationships with public and private providers, community-based groups, and residents to coordinate and integrate services, improve access, and identify community needs and barriers to service delivery;

Participates as a team member in the continuous improvement of the human services access process.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities

Extensive knowledge of the principles, methods and problems of organization and management;

Extensive knowledge of regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;

Thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of social work and casework supervision;

Thorough knowledge of current social service problems and methods/approaches to address them;

Ability to accurately apply, interpret and administer regulations and guidelines relating to the assigned area of social service specialization;

Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing;

Ability to use automated technology;

Ability to maintain professional ethics and confidentiality of client information;

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals;

Ability to plan and direct the activities of a group of social service professionals.

Employment Standards

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor’s degree; plus four years of increasingly responsible, directly-related professional experience in the social services or human services field. A master’s degree in a related field may be substituted for one year of required experience.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:
Valid Driver's license.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to the position must satisfactorily complete a criminal background check and Child Protective Services check.

All newly hired employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (two weeks after the last required dose) as a condition of employment or obtain approval of a medical or religious exemption prior to their start date. Proof of an exemption or vaccination status will be required during the pre-employment onboarding process. New employees who obtain an exemption from the vaccine mandate for medical or sincerely held religious beliefs may be subject to a weekly testing requirement. Vaccinated employees and employees with a medical or religious exemption will complete the attestation online on their first day of employment or shortly thereafter.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in social work (MSW) or a related human services degree
• At least three (3) years of experience in child protective services
• At least three (3) years of experience in child welfare. Child welfare is the continuum of services designed to ensure that children are safe and that families have the necessary support to care for their children successfully
• At least three (3) year of experience in providing supervision
• Experience in performing case management services in a child welfare setting (child protective services, foster care, adoption, family prevention, permanency planning, or domestic/sexual violence)

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Work requires performing tasks with risks of secondary traumatic stress (STS) Ability to navigate through and make decisions in stressful and crisis situations Sufficiently mobile to accompany staff to home visits and court appearances. Ability to communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing. Ability to use automated technology. Ability to lift up to 30 lbs. All duties performed with or without reasonable accommodation.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview; may include practical exercise.

The population of Fairfax County is very diverse where 39.8% of residents speak a language other than English at home (Spanish, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indo-European, and others) and we are committed to providing county services to individuals regardless of English proficiency. Qualified candidates who are bilingual in English and another language are encouraged to apply for this job opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Contact 703-324-4900 for assistance. TTY 703-222-7314. EEO/AA/TTY.